260312 VO+UE Scientific Computing (programming languages and tools, basic algorithms) (2008S)

"Scientific computing" is a scientific discipline in its own right, dealing with all aspects of the computer-based numerical, modeling, and simulation methods common to the various sub-fields of the natural sciences. However, also for the non-specialist, a basic knowledge of computational methods, and the ability to put them to meaningful use, are nowadays considered integral parts of a general scientific education.
Designed for second year students of scientific or medical/technical disciplines, this course offers a selection of the most basic numerical methods and introduces the tools necessary to implement the algorithms in software, analyze the results, and present them in graphical form - the typical steps required when preparing a lab report or writing up a diploma thesis.
The course is PC/Unix (Linux) oriented and largely based on public domain software. Topics covered are
* operating system
* programming languages
* scripting languages
* graphical representation
* scientific text processing
as well as numerical methods including
* numerical integration
* ordinary differential equations
* (simple) partial differential equations
* linear equations
* non-linear equations
* Fourier analysis
* curve fitting
* Monte Carlo methods
* simulation